Motherly Instinct
by Salina M L
Summary: Kagome still wasn't quite sure why she was awake now. Like some kind of ridiculous instinct, she had gotten the feeling that she shouldn't be asleep. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own InuYasha. Rumiko Takahashi does.

Hi, everyone! This is yet another strange one-shot that's been on my mind for awhile now.

Enjoy!

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**Motherly Instinct**

**By Salina M L**

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Kagome walked into her bedroom carrying a mug of green tea and some cookies; her late night snack. Her longish raven hair was tied up in a loose ponytail, so that some strands fell to frame her face. She placed the mug and plate down onto the bedside table before stretching and flopping back onto her bed with a content sigh and kicked off her fluffy slippers. 

As much as she did love being with her friends in the Sengoku Jidai, she missed the luxuries of her own time, not to mention her family and after a long argument with Inuyasha, which consisted of a ton of yelling and about a dozen sit commands, she was finally here. Kagome raised her arms and folded them against the back of her head, keeping her gaze on the ceiling. It was late and she found her eyes getting heavier by each passing moment and soon her eyes fluttered closed and she drifted off to sleep in a matter of seconds, tea and cookies forgotten.

She gripped the soft sheets in a fist as she came back into consciousness. Kagome kept her eyes closed as a cool breeze swept in the room causing her nose to twitch. Wait a minute, didn't she close the window?

Lazily, Kagome opened her eyes unclenching her fist, releasing her mauve covers, finding herself now on her stomach. Through wisps of midnight hair she looked towards the window of her bedroom to see that it was closed, just as she thought. The curtains had been pulled shut, closing off the night sky from the room, but a few luminous beams from the moon fought their way in. Groaning, she turned over on her side trying to block out a feeling that had arisen in her gut.

But Kagome knew that no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep until she knew exactly what was making those numbing chills coarse up her spine. She always had been one to follow her instincts, so why would that change now? Before she could press the matter further, a strange aura unlike any she had ever felt came at her faster than the speed of sound, stunning her momentarily as the aftermath from the energy seemed to have drilled a hole in her eardrums. She sat there for a moment, mulling over what had just transpired and awaiting some sort of demon or anything to come traipsing into her room. With an aura as strong as that it had to be a demon. After another minute of zero activity, she finally let out a breath she wasn't aware that she had been holding. _'Come on Kag, it's only your imagination. There's absolutely nothing to worry about…'_ Kagome let out an impatient sigh before shrugging her shoulder with a soft moan. Once more, she felt that strange shiver though her spine and slowly sat up gripping the sheets around her body.

She pulled the pillow from underneath her head and smothered it over her face, trying her hardest to get a grip on herself. Only her efforts were in vain. Removing the pillow, she swung her legs over the side of the bed before getting up and walking over to the window. Brushing the curtains aside, she leaned heavily on the windowsill, staring up at the night sky.

She still wasn't quite sure why she was awake now…

Like some kind of ridiculous instinct, she had gotten the feeling that she shouldn't be asleep.

Yet nonetheless, here she was now; grabbing the flashlight she used constantly in the Sengoku Jidai, her slippers, and her long pink robe, then heading towards the door at a brisk pace, leaving both room and house. She wrapped her cotton housecoat tighter around her body as she nearly sprinted through the misty shadows towards the goshinboku.

The breeze picked up as it worked its way through her nightwear, blowing it rhythmically within its transparent arms. Her bluish eyes lingered on the god tree as she felt her nerves calm at the sight of the living monument. That was until she heard low, soft, shaking sound. Whipping her head around to try and pinpoint the source of the noise, her eyes widened when she realized it had been coming from the well house.

Assuming perhaps that it was Buyo and that he probably got himself stuck in the well again, she went over to investigate. Flinging the sliding doors open, she stepped in and walked towards the lip of the well, peering over the edge to see if indeed said tubby neko had gotten himself trapped only to find that the bottom of the ancient well was as empty as the way she had left it earlier that day. Turning on her flashlight, she pointed it towards the corners of the pitch black room to see if he was hiding himself there, only to find nothing.

That left only one possible answer, it had come from the other side of the well, in the Sengoku Jidai.

Kagome shook her head rapidly. That was impossible, the only one who could travel through the well was Inuyasha and it was equally impossible to hear any sounds from the other side.

Yet there it was again. A whimpering, terrified noise that sounded so much like a baby crying.

It was almost inaudible from where she was standing now, it was more the squeezing pain she felt in her chest that was making her skin crawl and her breath hitch in her throat. The sound lit a dormant feeling inside of her, one that shouldn't surface until a woman came of age and gives birth, a feeling that came naturally to most women.

Just like her reactions now…

So instantaneous, it was strange for a fifteen year old girl.

Even though it clearly registered in her mind that she _did not _have a child to worry about, if she did there was something definitely wrong with that picture. Despite that, the sound of crying always snapped her into a fit of mothering and into that of paranoid fear as flashes of morbid predictions surfaced in her mind.

Children… orphan children more likely, but any child really.

Tumbling, falling, screaming, bleeding, burning…

Those images terrified her, just as such thoughts would terrify any mother.

And that crying… it sounded so much like…

She swung her leg over the edge and slid off into the vortex without a second thought, lifting her long robe so as not to be hindered in her movements.

Standing at the bottom of the well in the warring states era, she latched onto the vines and began pulling herself up with some difficulty due to her baggy clothing. With every step she was closing in on the source of the noise.

And the crying was getting louder.

She could almost make out words...

"Mm…"

The sound caught her ears, it was a sort of moan…

Finally, she finally arrived at the top. Digging her dainty fingers into the aging wood, she hoisted herself up onto the lip, crossing her arms under her chest for leverage. Her eyes quickly scanned the area for any signs of that which made her travel all the way here.

Who was it already?! Who was it that seemed to be calling out to her and her alone? Couldn't anyone else hear this child's sobs echoing throughout the night?

"Mm-ma… Mama!"

Her eyes shot open wide in panic and she nearly fell backwards, narrowly catching herself with the tips of her fingers, but despite the awkward position and the strain she yanked herself up and out of the well, her eyes searching around the clearing frantically. Her flashlight dropped from her grasp, the bulb flickering a few times from overuse before going out completely, leaving her in total darkness.

"Mama…"

Her eyes dropped to the ground beside her in front of the well. Her entire body relaxed, then. Almost to the point that she collapsed, but a quick grab at the rim of the well found her a handhold and she straightened herself out once again.

It wasn't her that this child was calling out to, she only thought that it had been.

She stiffened slightly as she heard it again.

"Ma… ma… please…"

He had to be having a nightmare and she wasn't going to let it upset him anymore.

She approached him slowly, creeping across to the other side of the well in a silence that was profoundly awkward, despite the fact that no one else was there to experience it. Dropping, as gently as she could, to her knees she gathered him up in her arms and held him tightly to her chest like she had so many times before, whenever he came to her for safety or reassurance.

It was decidedly unsettling for her to see his face contorted in such grief and sweat pouring down his usually joyful face.

"Mama… he-help…"

She cringed at the sound. The voice wasn't the usual spunky, exuberant one she was used to hearing, when he acted like the tough little guy she knew he could be, all he needed to do was come out of himself, and with that takes time. Now that he was sleeping, he had abandoned his abilities for the night, so he sounded so much like an infant trying out his first word.

It tore at her heart.

"Hurts…" The tiny boy whimpered, tugging her loose clothing tighter around his frail body.

It wasn't her he was calling for, and it wasn't for her that he cried.

Still, she wasn't able to contain herself and before she knew it, she was reaching out to him and caressing his cheek, hoping to calm him in the slightest, even though it really wasn't her place.

"Mm…" A slight whimper forced itself from his throat as he turned, grip tightening as he moved towards her.

"Mama…" He whispered, teal eyes sliding open to stare up at her.

It was quiet for a moment, a freakishly still and choking quiet that they both embraced fully. Until his eyes widened absurdly and he looked about as shocked as a child who had put their fingers on a heated stove.

"M-mother?!" He stammered, his demonic eyes still thickly glazed over. He was still partially asleep.

She felt as if she had fallen back with enough force to break bones. The cold was back, wrapping around her and pulling her hand back to her side. Though her fingers flexed as if trying to catch onto something until she lightly smiled at him and replaced her hand on his face. "I'm not your mother, Shippo." Out of instinct, she began to gently rock back and forth with him.

His eyes widened a fraction, he certainly had not been expecting her, but when the initial feeling faded away, his eyes softened as he snuggled closer to her, if that was possible as he regretfully fell back into his nightmare.

Kagome kept the kitsune in her arms, tightly holding onto him. A part of her wondered for a fleeting moment on just who was clinging to who. One thing she did not like to hear was little ones crying. He was an orphan too… just like Rin and so many other children in the Sengoku Jidai, human or not. But Rin had someone, even if Kagome still found herself baffled by the whole situation.

This wasn't a hurt wrist or careless scratch but a heart wrenching sob of sorrow and despair. What caused Kagome to hurt inside was the fact that this was coming from one so full of life and had so many prosperous years ahead to become a noble lord, find a mate and have many wonderful offspring.

Again, something a mother would wish for…

She looked up into the skies pressing his body closer to her own, letting him cry it out and ran her fingers through the kit's soft hair once he had stopped wailing and quieted into tiny sobs in his sleep. She nuzzled her cheek against the crown of his head, adjusting herself to sit with her back against the wood. She would stay here with him all night if she had to.

As a girl she had lost her father. As an infant he had lost _both_ of his parents. And frankly, she didn't know what she would do if she lost her own mother. So she would do her best to fill that empty void in his life.

Though it was safe, she thought, to occasionally slip like this…

Slip, and perhaps sway, but not too often…

Because she was not his mother. She was simply his friend.

Both of them had to remember that.

Kagome sighed. A soft, gentle sigh of resignation and despair. It was just pretend she would tell herself, but she still loved Shippo as if he was her own.

And she would do anything for him.

**The End**

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This fic generally focuses on Kagome's feelings towards little Shippo and their bond. However, it really depends on how you perceive their relationship; whether it's just cute and fluffy, or built on a more bittersweet structure, like this one implies. We all know that Shippo absolutely adores Kagome, not just judging by his actions, but by his dialogue as well. Kagome also cares for him, but she never said why. So I just sort of… ran with that… I suppose. 

Sorry, if it was too much, but I like this particular form of their relationship.

I hope everyone enjoyed it!

_Please Review!_


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